Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Being a deaf developer

cruft.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–26 of 26 posts

Re: Being a deaf developer

#21

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

I'm a hearing developer with conversational ASL skills, and there was a brief time when I had the opportunity to work with a Deaf developer. We didn't get to write much code together, but he was able to help me learn the signs to talk tech jargon and we had a grand old time. He was thrilled to be able to communicate effectively with someone at the workplace. One of the best parts was seeing my coworkers react when I started signing with him - I hadn't mentioned that I could use ASL.

ASL is a pretty easy language to learn and it's pretty rewarding. I suggest more devs try it, especially if you have the chance to work with someone who you could communicate more effectively with via ASL.

Re: Being a deaf developer

#22

Post by ricksplat »

hollsk wrote: post #14
pcote wrote: post #10

>> The stereotype of a programmer as a solitary eccentric who’s allergic to human company is unfair and inaccurate. As a group, we’re a very social bunch. I'm a disabled programmer too. In my case, it's autism so statements like this make me cringe. It puts up an exaggerated effigy of some weirdo with asperger syndrome so neurotypicals can say "We're not like that guy!" Programmers need a quiet place to work. But tha…

Hey, article writer here. I feel shitty that I made you feel shitty. I'm sorry to have been insensitive. I'd also like to say that I am absolutely against raising of noise levels because that sucks for coding and also life in general. I'm deaf, but not completely deaf, and I also have a condition called "recruitment" which is a form of noise sensitivity that you can read about here: http://www.hyperacusis.net/hyperac…

I just looked at that hyperaccusis website and that "sssh" animated globe graphic in the top left is incredibly annoying, and somewhat ironic given the subject matter. Some kind of a joke I guess, but I can't scroll it off and it makes the page impossible for me to read!

Re: Being a deaf developer

#23

Post by Jemaclus »

sdrothrock wrote: post #5
Jemaclus wrote: post #2

As another deaf developer (severe-to-profound loss), this is absolutely on point. A lot of the traditional techniques that work for most companies don't work for me, especially when it comes to pair programming. I strongly dislike group stand-ups, because I never know who's going to talk next. One of the other things I've found myself struggling with is when to tell someone that I have a hearing loss. I feel like if…

> One of the other things I've found myself struggling with is when to tell someone that I have a hearing loss. I feel like if I do it in the first interview, I'll set off unconscious biases I completely understand this and have felt the same way, but the trade-off I ended up making in my mind to make me feel more comfortable with being up-front is that if they're not willing to be accommodating for the interview, wo…

Yes, I agree, to an extent. However, I think the real world is a little bit more complicated than that. Most people, given the opportunity, would brush aside even modest hardship, and you can't blame them for that. Why walk all the way across the parking lot when there's a parking spot right outside the front door?

But given some sort of emotional, personal, or financial investment, the willingness to endure modest hardship skyrockets.

For a pretty contrived example, if a stranger comes up to me and asks me to help them move from their old apartment to their new apartment, I would want significant compensation for the physical hardship and giving up my time and energy. However, if a friend asks me to do so, I'd do it for a slice of pizza and beer or even an IOU to help me at a later date.

Likewise, an interview, if you give them even the slightest reason to say no, they will, because there are plenty of fish in the sea that won't have that modest hardship. But at the same time, if I can get them to put a little bit of personal, emotional, or financial investment in me, their willingness to accommodate my disability -- ignoring the law for a moment here -- also skyrockets. Once they're invested in me even a little bit, they're a thousand times more willing to help out in any reasonable way that they can.

That said, you're absolutely right that we should keep an eye out for people that won't accommodate us at all. I just disagree with the notion that up-front dismissal == no accommodation at all.

Re: Being a deaf developer

#24

Post by Jemaclus »

hollsk wrote: post #17
sdrothrock wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of the other things I've found myself struggling with is when to tell someone that I have a hearing loss. I feel like if I do it in the first interview, I'll set off unconscious biases I completely understand this and have felt the same way, but the trade-off I ended up making in my mind to make me feel more comfortable with being up-front is that if they're not willing to be accommodating for the interview, wo…

Totally agree with this. It's usually the second or third thing that I say in an interview after "hello", so I can get them to arrange where everyone sits in a favourable way. If they're dicks about it then you're not going to want to work with them. It is scary, though - nobody wants to feel like somebody hates them because of a disability that can't be helped, so I get why it's a preoccupation, and most of us will…

We use a ball, but the same method applies. It works great during small standups, but at all-hands meetings it gets unwieldy, especially if someone cracks a joke and everyone but me is laughing. That kind of sucks. But you're right, it definitely helps. At my next job, I plan on pushing for Slack standups, for sure.

Re: Being a deaf developer

#25

Post by Jemaclus »

sdrothrock wrote: post #4
caffeineninja wrote: post #3

Chiming in here - I've got congenital profound loss in both ears, but I have a cochlear implant. I've grown in my career over the last 15 years from junior dev up to my current engineering management role, and what I've observed was: 1) The biggest hurdle in most cases is communication, especially in meetings. That being said, I still do fine in them, because I rely on lip reading as well as vocal cues/context, but I…

Interesting! I'm in a very similar situation (congenital profound hearing loss, implanted in left ear at 16), but in a country (Japan[1]) where the primary language is not my native language (English). > The biggest hurdle in most cases is communication, especially in meetings. That being said, I still do fine in them, because I rely on lip reading as well as vocal cues/context, but I also rely on my coworkers to be…

Totally agree about the phone thing. At my last job, I set up a meeting with HR and explained the situation, and within 24 hours, the entire 2000+ company had a new rule about email vs phone calls. There were still a lot of calls, but none of them came to me. I'm not entirely sure how they pulled that off, because the rule didn't mention me by name, but it worked out great.

I would 100000x rather text, Slack, or meet 1:1 than do a phone call.

That said, in the last year or so I got a hearing aid with Bluetooth capabilities, so I can shut off the external microphone and only hear the phone call that comes through. It only works on my personal phone, but I actually enjoy talking on the phone with my family and friends now, whereas I used to avoid it like the plague.

Post reply on HN